Kimputer's Weblog

The Sharks have the mob under control, staying at number one with a respectable $31.7 million. Only a 33% drop, a feat not pulled often.
Number 2 is for Billy Bob Thornton starrer Friday Night Lights. This based on facts school football drama took in $20.6 million. At number 3, Ladder 49 climbs down on step, taking in $13.3 million.
Fox’s Taxi remake, starring SNL’s Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah, didn’t make enough rounds, cashing in only $12.1 million, good for number 4. The Forgotten sticks at the fifth spot with $7.5 million.

Everything that Shrek was, this is not. Fresh, not. Fun, not really. Smart, not at all. And now I’m comparing it just with its fellow Dreamworks brother. If I had to compare it with rival Disney, we’d end up with Finding Nemo pretty fast. There, I still remember the characters. Again, not so with Shark Tale. If only it wasn’t 3D animation, I’d definitely say they were all stereotypes. In short, it’s an ocean full of cliches. You’d be better off enjoying the beach instead.5½.

If you thought black guys dressed up as girls, AND being totally under white make-up was hard, guess again. Sitting through this movie without a fast forward button is much much much harder. Luckily I had one, but still, it’s a tough one.
Here and there the Wayans brothers delivered some funny movies, so I had not expected this movie to totally suck. But with bad acting, lame recycled jokes and a lot of cliche story twists, you can go a long way. And you don’t even find out halfway through the movie. You will have this nagging doomsday feeling somewhere during the third minute already. By the end, you’ve either fallen asleep, or if you’re in a movie theatre, you’ve probably walked out already.2.

For an independent movie, it really tries hard to be a Hollywood blockbuster. There’s drama and comedy. There’s teen school stuff. There’s the obvious satire. There’s the moral preaching (that’s pretty ironic, as it’s satiring Christianity). There are a handful of stories and subjects. It’s just too much too handle, and it falls flat. In the end, it’s so thinned out, there’s physically no depth to find here. On the up side, the acting is good, even if the total movie is predictable (though you may not notice because of all the things going around).6-.

As the title suggests, it’s a Dawn of the Dead-inspired horror comedy, British style. Winning rave reviews from the online community and fairly good reviews from the known critics, I thought this would be splendid. Truth be told, luckily I didn’t see it in the movie theatre, as this is a typical movie best served on your homevideo system.
A low budget Working Title production, they try to focus on the characters, which is always fine. However, it doesn’t reach any highs or lows, hanging somewhere between predictable and fairly enjoyable. Same goes for the story itself. The humor is what you expect from the Brits. Combined with the absent visual extravaganza, rent it if you have a lot of time to kill.6½.

Shark Tale took a fairly big bite out of the box office, despite luke-warm critical reviews. A $49.1 million bite is good for an October record number.
Firefighting John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix flushes away some $22.8 million in Ladder 49, again, despite mostly mediocre reviews.
The Forgotten, still fresh in the memory, takes in $12 million in its second week.
At number 4, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow holds on another day, with $3.4 million.

Another intense suspense thriller worth watching. When Michael Mann is behind the camera, you usually get above average insight in the characters. Exactly so with Tom Cruise’s first bad guy role, a vicious ruthless killer. Like all his previous roles, he plays it with utter conviction, leaving no room for doubting his acting abilities. Same goes for Jamie Foxx, playing the sharp yet uncertain cab driver at the wrong place at the wrong time. This strict storyline with minimal branching always has a sense of suspense going on, and the dialogue in the cab adds depth. And while it may feel slow here and there, overall it’s intense enough to recommend this to the general public.8-.

Julianne Moore/Anthony Edwards starrer The Forgotten didn’t stop people from remembering to see it, earning $22 million.
At number two, as expected, a significant drop for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, with $6.7 million. Dropping along is Mr. 3000, this week’s third takes in $5 million.
The premiere of Forest Whitaker’s directed First Daughter takes in $4 million, tying it with third week Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Cellular is at nr. 5 with $3.7 million.

Another Spielberg/Hanks collaboration, which often result in fine end products, and even if they screw up, they’re still satisfying. So also this one. The movie takes off just fine (a foreign playing Tom Hanks just begs for sympathy), and the economy class flight is also fine (topically figuratively speaking, of course). No high points, no deeper meaning, no controversial topics. Just a crazy idea worked out to a full soft comedy/drama script. Acting is done just fine, and the direction is done with experienced technical skills. During the landing however, the plane somehow outruns the landing strip by a few miles (again, figuratively speaking), because the long stretched ending bears nothing extra except the predictable. All in all, a fine product for light entertainment.7+.

While trying to save the world from giant robots on a blue screen, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow opened with $16.2 million. While saving on furniture and set design (all of the film was shot on a soundstage with blue screens), the special effects still pushed the budget to $70 million. A mark that might not reached if the movie loses audience at a normal pace (a weekly 40-50% decline).
Second was comedian Bernie Mac starrer Mr. 3000 with $9.2 million. Not so resident after all, is a drop to number 3 for Resident Evil: Apocalypse, with $9 million.
Wimbledon is clearly wasted on the Americans, as it takes in $7.8 million, good for only a fourth place. Cellular drops to number 5 with $6.9 million.

Describing this movie anything less than stellar wouldn’t do it justice. And this includes acting, directing and writing. Easily being one of the smartest script of this year, the movie is somewhat poetic, yet grounded to reality. Inner thoughts and emotions entwined with witty dialogue make it compelling with the director keeping it interesting on screen with subtle tricks. While the movie focuses mainly on one relationship, it branches out to a few more complications, which are luckily, just as interesting.
Some people wait for that gem that only comes by only a few times a year. With certainty I can tell you this is it. A definite must-see.9-.

Well deservedly titled THE Disney bomb of the year. A very talkative, yet empty movie about some place called the Alamo, which marked an important point of time in the US history. That last sentence sounded more exciting than the movie though. On one side, you have a few “important” guys, bickering amongst each other. On the other side you have a Mexican general. Fighting for a lil’ piece of land called Texas. The viewer though, has a fight of his own. Against extreme boredom that is.
The characters are half dimensional at best. In the end, the only thing you have figured out would be “He seems nice, he seems less nice”. The dialogue has no message nor any emotional bearing. The strategy doesn’t go beyond, “You take south, you take south-east”. And on screen, there’s no eye candy to be seen. Clothing, weapons, buildings, scenery, the few battles, it’s all yawn-inspiring.
One tip if you ever get tied down with someone keeping your eyes open with no escape possible, try to figure out where the $100 million went to (I have a feeling a large part is in someone’s pocket, instead of paying writers and producers to make the best of a lousy skirmish in the 19th century).2.

Second-rate horror flicks are still doin’ good bizz, the latest being Milla Jovovich starrer Resident Evil: Apocalypse. This sequel took in $23.7 million, enough for the number one spot and beating the original’s $17.7 million. Second was for another premiere, Kim Basinger starrer Cellular (same team behind Phone Booth), with $10.6 million. Third was Without a Paddle, floating around for the fourth week already, with $4.6 million.
Hero has to do with a number 4 place, down to $4.4 million.

Unlike the title suggests, it’s not that supreme. Like its predecessor, it only provides light entertainment. The story is laid out in the plain, holding no thrills for the rest of the two hours. The rest if filled with the usual chases and getaways, with a car chase finale that really dizzies you (the annoying kind, as the sequence is edited in a way even an MTV video clip director would scratch his head twice). By the end, you have the feeling it really lacks depth, and emotion. Ready for the Bourne Ultimatum (the third book that just might be filmed after this movie finishes successful worldwide run) ? Definitely not.7.

Again, Jet Li is the Hero at number one, at a very quiet box office, with $9 million. Rising to number two, is last week’s number three, comedy flick Without a Paddle, with $7.1 million. Third was last week’s second, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, with $6.4 million.
At number four is a Mel Gibson’s Icon Production, a thriller called Papparazzi, earning $6.3 million. More fun at number 5, for the Cookout, this bbq partaay earns $5.6 million. At number 6, Josh Hartnett has to carry a film by himself, the psychological drama Wicker Park earns $5.4 million.